Tacoma got all artsy but still managed to get bruised, shake its money maker

Eclectic. That was the weekend in Tacoma.

The fun stuff started during the Third Thursday Artwalk with Speakeasy Arts Cooperative organizer Angela Jossy hosting an Art Bus that shuttled folks from joint to joint for the first Tacoma Fringe Art Walk Tour. Good times.

One of the standout showings of the night was Loteria, Edward Matlock’s graphic offering that mix a Mexican card game and cultural icons in seemingly random order. Or was there rhyme to the reason? And besides Oliver Doriss’ Fulcrum Gallery is a fun little spot on its own. His Salvador Dali mustache automatically makes him the coolest man any room. Well, maybe not Safeco Field since the Mariner Moose seems like a pretty cool cat too. But that is a story for a different time.

Also during Artwalk, the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts hosted an all-ages concert with Dream On. It is a largely all-female Aerosmith tribute band. It was an odd show with weird sound mixing, but the vibe was good. Jen Ayers took the part of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, while Laurie Miller assumed the role of Joe Perry, Faith Stankevich as Joey Kramer, Alicia Healey as Tom Hamilton and Graham McNeill as Brad Whitford.

Saturday’s fun started early… by nightlife standards when Tacoma’s emerging dodgeball league fielded four teams and more than two dozen players chucking, dodging and taking hits to the head like boxers in training. The next bout will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Franklin Elementary School, or the tennis courts depending on the weather.

Speakeasy then hosted “Moondance,” a private arts party that drew a fun group of folks from the 253, who wanted to gather, drink spiked tea from the Mad Hat Tea Co. and listen to the vocals of Sherrie Minter and Voxxy Vallejo.

The night ended with a trip to Jazzbones to see Aphrodisiacs, then the Swiss for the cover band mainstay, Kryboys and the skirted crowd it draws whenever it takes to a South Sound stage.

Toss in a few stops here and there, and the clock ticked away well into Sunday’s sunrise. And that means church. Even night owls believe in God.